S07E01: With what sauce shall we be eaten?
About this activity.
Anna Reutinger, Isabel Cavenecia, Yair Callender
work period: may 13 – june 21 2024
opening: june 22, 14:00 - 17:00 (dresscode: black)
show: june 22 – july 21 2024
set at: cemetary Esserveld – Esserweg 22a, Groningen
There is nothing so inevitable and elusive about life as death. No one is immortal and there comes a time for each of us to pass. With what sauce shall we be eaten?* is an exhibition at the Esserveld cemetery and former auditorium. Anna Reutinger, Isabel Cavenecia and Yair Callender developed new artworks during a five-week residency at the cemetery. They studied the cemetery and funerary culture - all the activities, structures and meanings surrounding death.
At Esserveld, one of the most expensive cemeteries in the Netherlands, the question arises as to who can afford to be laid to rest here, and who is remembered. Amid the tall trees, between rows of grey stones, a distinction between active memory and decay is apparent. For those whose memory is no longer kept alive by loved ones, there is the groundskeeper of Esserveld. The care and attention with which 40,000 begonias are planted every year demonstrate a different kind of affiliation with the final resting place.
By delving into the symbolism of headstones, burial rights for people who cannot afford them and old Dutch mourning practices, the artists explore their own relationship to death and memory. What death rituals exist and is there room for new ones? Is there an afterlife? And can an artist add something to the sober Dutch tombstones?
The choices you face as the end approaches - burial or cremation, the font on your headstone, your favourite party record or that tearjerker at your funeral after all - give us a sense of control over our legacy. But what world are we really leaving behind? How will we be remembered and which stories will endure?
*The title With what sauce shall we be eaten? comes from 'An Old Fable Retold', written by William Morris in 1884. In this socialist tale, chickens at a pre-Christmas conference debate what sauce they shall be served with. When a battered-looking middle-aged rooster questions whether they should be eaten at all, a clucking commentary erupts. Ultimately, the conference concludes that slow-boiling is the least revolutionary way to cook. Morris illustrates a political trend that we also see today. The magnification of problems in one's own front yard and so-called choices involved, distract from larger issues. Choosing between cranberry compote and mushroom sauce may give the impression of control over what is to come, but distracts from the fact that death is inevitable.
Important note: As the exhibition invites reflection on dealing with death and remembrance, we do not want to ignore the genocide taking place in Gaza. Proceeds during this programme will be donated to humanitarian aid in Gaza.
het resort.
Het resort onderzoekt de gedraging van een kunstinitiatief en zoekt naar nieuwe wegen, bevraagd de oude en doet suggesties. Ze test hoe de kunsten zich staande houden in omgevingen waar deze (nog) geen vaste positie heeft en kiest zowel de monumentale architectuur als de rafelranden waarin de (eerdere) functie van de omgeving een belangrijke rol speelt. Het resort zoekt naar de wildcards: ongebruikelijke combinaties van kunstenaars en omgevingen waarbij de uitkomsten onzeker zijn. Met haar episodes wil het resort een ontsnapping bieden uit het dagelijkse bestaan en vertelt ze het verhaal van kunst, misvatting, voorspoed, ambiance en champagne.
Location.
Begraafplaats Esserveld
Esserweg 22a
9722 SN Groningen
tel -
www.hetresort.nl/index.html